Spring 2020 Lecture Series: “Captives Of Liberty” By T. Cole Jones

Spring 2020 Lecture Series: "Captives Of Liberty" By T. Cole Jones

When

Mon, Apr 20, 2020    
7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Free

Where

Old Barracks Museum
101 Barrack Street, Trenton, New Jersey, 08608

Event Type

Trenton, NJ— The Old Barracks is pleased to host lectures and discussions by leading historians and authors on a variety of subjects sponsored by the Society of Sons of the Revolution in the State of New Jersey. Lectures are free to attend, and pre-orders for books are encouraged.

 

Monday, April 20 at 7 PM: T. Cole Jones will present a lecture on his book Captives of Liberty: Prisoners of War and the Politics of Vengeance in the American Revolution. This lecture by Cole Jones on his book will examine how the founding generation of Americans grappled with the problems of prisoner treatment. During the eight-year conflict, American forces captured over seventeen thousand British and allied Germanic soldiers, as well as thousands more loyalist civilians and British mariners. The number of enemy prisoners in American custody often exceeded that of American soldiers in the Continental army. These prisoners proved increasingly burdensome for the new nation as the war progressed. What was to become of these men? How should they be confined? Who would pay to house and feed them? When and how should they be released? A series of thorny political issues compounded these logistical difficulties. This talk will take the audience from the meeting rooms of the Continental Congress to the prison camps of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, revealing the factors that coalesced to transform the conflict into a war for vengeance, escalating its violence precipitously.

 

All lectures are free of charge. Books can be pre-ordered online at: www.barracks.org.

 

ABOUT THE OLD BARRACKS MUSEUM: The Old Barracks Museum preserves the history of a building constructed as a French and Indian War military barracks and used as a Revolutionary War hospital. It also stood witness to Washington’s crucial victory at the Battle of Trenton. At the beginning of the 20th century, members of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Colonial Dames organized The Old Barracks Association and spearheaded a campaign to purchase the building. The building has been a museum for over a century and has frequently been used as a symbol for the state of New Jersey. The Old Barracks Museum welcomes visitors from across the state as well as around the world.